SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE: Outgoing KMT Legislator Joanna Lei was among those who said changes have to be made to improve the functioning of the Legislative Yuan
By Loa Iok-sin
Reform is necessary to improve the quality of the legislature, academics said at a forum in Taipei yesterday.

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By Sihh Hsiao-kung
The outgoing sixth legislature could be described as "record-breaking" for a number of reasons, including the length of time for which it stalled the annual budget and its unprecedented attempts to impeach the president.

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Its largesse may still help prop up the economies of some of the continent's poorest countries, but Taiwan is being slowly squeezed out of Africa as China's presence grows ever stronger.

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By Ko Shu-ling
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday lent his support to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) suggestion that the president appoint a chief executive officer as premier.

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By Rich Chang
Well-known former entertainer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator-elect Yu Tien (余天) said yesterday that a man had attacked his son for political reasons.

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NOT A 'DIRTY TRICK': The office said any visits to military bases would be a matter of routine, rather than a bid to boost the DPP candidate
By Ko Shu-ling
The Presidential Office yesterday denied that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) plans to visit the Spratly Islands (南沙群島) before the presidential election for the sole purpose of raising the profile of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).

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By Ko Shu-ling
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday proposed lowering the inheritance tax to 10 percent if elected, saying he would suggest the idea to Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) this week.

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SPOTTING THE SIGNS: Western medical diagnoses of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder do not have equivalents in Chinese medicine
By Angelica Oung
The Taipei City Chinese Medicine Association, in association with the department of psychiatry at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), held a conference in Taipei yesterday on psychiatric medicine designed to give Chinese medicine practitioners a Western perspective on mental illnesses.

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TEMPLE TAKEAWAY: An elderly woman who went to a temple on Saturday found that the medallions were missing and reported the incident to the police
Police in Kinmen County and Taichung are searching for a thief who stole golden medallions weighing around 112g from the Tianshang Shengmu Temple (Heavenly Holy Mother Temple) on the remote island of Wuciou (烏坵), 133km north of Kinmen, police said yesterday.

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A NEW DAWN: Doctors decided to send for an artificial `Berlin Heart,' which extended Tang-tang's life long enough for them to find a suitable replacement
By Wei Yi-chia
Five-year-old Tang-tang (湯湯), who was suffering from an enlarged heart, is now out of hospital after a successful heart transplant operation, making him the youngest patient in Asia to receive an artificial heart.

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The Taipei Game Show, which will be held between Thursday and next Monday at the Taipei World Trade Center, will feature the manuscripts and works of Taiwanese comic book author Tsai Chih-chung(蔡志忠) and Japanese author Yoshiyuki Tomino, whose works should be the main focus of the event, organizers said yesterday.

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The Ministry of Economic Affairs' Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) has implemented more stringent safety measures in light of recalls in the US and around the rest of the world of toys made in China, bureau officials said yesterday.

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